Postal Service Reports Record $15.9 Billion Loss

An employee loads flat trays onto a truck at the U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center in Merrifield, Va.

Andrew HarrierBloomberg via Getty Images

The United States Postal Service reported a record $15.9 billion loss in fiscal year 2012. That compares to a $5.1 billion loss last fiscal year.

Bloomberg reports that the postal service is forecast to run out of cash by Oct. 15, 2013 when it is scheduled to make a workers compensation payment to the Labor Department. The Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe painted a grim picture when he announced the loss.

"We are walking a financial tightrope," Donahoe said according to Bloomberg. "Will we ever stop delivering the mail? It will never happen. We are simply too important to the economy and the flow of commerce."

In a statement, the postal service says Congress needs to act so the service can stop the bleeding. The postal service wants Congress to, among other things, allow it to cut Saturday service and to allow it to resolve "the overfunding of the Postal Service's obligation to the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS)."

"While email has obliterated mail volumes, online shopping has proved a boon for the package business as the Postal Service delivers items ordered from e-Bay , Amazon.com and others. The agency said package revenue rose by $926 million, or 8.7 percent, during the year.